Meta reported profits of $13.465 billion (€12.446 billion at the current exchange rate) in the second quarter, up 73% from the $7.788 billion it made in the same period in 2023, the owner of Facebook and Instagram said on Wednesday. The figures far exceeded analysts’ expectations, who had forecast net profits of $12.3 billion.
Revenue increased 22% to $39.071 billion, well above the $38.3 billion expected.
“We had a strong quarter and Meta AI is on track to become the world’s most widely used AI assistant by the end of the year,” said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of the company, in a statement.
The Reality Labs division, which includes augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, reported an operating loss of $4.48 billion in the quarter, slightly below the $4.55 billion expected by analysts. Since the end of 2020, CNBC reports, Reality Labs has generated cumulative losses of about $50 billion, due to heavy investments in hardware and software for what Zuckerberg calls the “new era of computing.”
Revenue from the division in the quarter ended June 30 – from Quest virtual reality headsets and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses – was $353 million, up 28% from a year earlier but below the $371 million expected by the market.
The company said it expects revenue to be between $38.5 billion and $41 billion in the current quarter and expects total expenses for 2024 to be in the range of $96 billion to $99 billion, the same as its previous forecast. The revenue guidance for the third quarter, which is midpoint at $39.8 billion, is higher than the market consensus of $39.1 billion.
As for the Reality Labs division, Meta expects operating losses to increase significantly compared to last year “due to current product development efforts and investments to scale the ecosystem.”
The company also said that capital expenditure (CAPEX) will amount to between $37 billion and $40 billion, an upward revision from the previous $35 billion to $40 billion.
In after-hours trading, Meta shares rose 4.08%.
News updated at 22:05 with more information
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
